Dolt Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 OK, so I got this "new" used Atari, and it is GRUNGY. Thick, heavy, dusty crud in the grill, the controller sockets and elsewhere. It's almost as if someone spilt molasses on it in some spots, circa 1983, and then never wiped it off. The rest of it is just dusty beyond belief. So, does anyone have any experience in cleaning these suckers up? I was thinking of soaking it in hot water and then going at it with a green scrubby sponge, but I don't think that will get all of it off. Any ideas for how to attain that showroom finish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susuwatari Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I take mine apart and remove the electronics. Since you mentioned your 2600 is 1983, I'm guessing it's a 4 switch woody miodel. The bottom half, the top half, and the control panel (that comes out too) and soak them in a tub of hot water. In most cases the serial number label would get loose but it'd be fine so if it comes off, put it aside and scrub the console with an used toothbrush. Once cleaned and dried out,k use glue stick to reattach the labels and put it back together. Enjoy. If the console still won't get cleaned, use stronger stuff but take care you don't use something really strong like Good Off I(not the same as orange Goo Gone) orLaqurer thinner as it'd eat plastics and also eats the hair out of your nose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolt Posted December 11, 2003 Author Share Posted December 11, 2003 Yeah, I've ruined a few CD jewel cases with Goof Off. I've never tried Goo Gone on them, although it seems to be a little less nasty on other items I've used it on. I'd try it as a last resort, but it makes things feel greasy and it leaves that orangey smell, which I'm not too fond of either. Good ideas, though--thanks. Anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Here's how I do it: http://www.ataritimes.com/features/fea_cle...nyouratari.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godsey1 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 The best cleaner that I have found and used is THUNDER BLAST. It comes from Dollar GENERAL store, and it's $2.00 for a 40 oz bottle. It cleans Great. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Here's how I do it:http://www.ataritimes.com/features/fea_cleanyouratari.html Ooooo, your NOT supposed to use armor all EVER. Povlok1 is going to have a field day when he sees this thread. He reconditions ataris and spend 3-4 hours on each one. You can really clean them however you want, but NEVER put armor-all on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candiru Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 So what's wrong with Armor All? I put it on my Vader and it makes it all purty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maximebeauvais Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 So what's wrong with Armor All? I put it on my Vader and it makes it all purty. yeah, what wrong with armor all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 First off it is a half-assed way to make it look good, why not just clean it for real and make the ORIGINAL shine come out? And second it isn't easy to get back to the original shine, all around just horrible for the system's plastic. I already sent a PM to povlok1, he has cleaned 100's of atari's and he said not to put it on there. And I trust him because he has cleand WAY more atari's than you or me ever will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 You can really clean them however you want, but NEVER put armor-all on them! I've never had a problem with it. AA is for plastic, Atari's are plastic. It's never done anything harmful to them and it lasts a long time. What other way is there to make it look like new once all the dirt has been removed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godsey1 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 The only thing that I have found out that is a little bit of a down side to useing Armor All, is that dust sticks to it really bad. If you rub it in really good, then you don't have as BIG of a "problem" with it. This is from my experiences with working Atari's. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 You can really clean them however you want, but NEVER put armor-all on them! What other way is there to make it look like new once all the dirt has been removed? Once you clean it it does look like new (if you clean it good enough) it will shine like it did from the factroy. There is no need to make it look like crap, all shiny after you clean it Armor all is a fake shine and you can tell after you put it on that it is too shiny, and they aren't supposed to be like a mirror. It just makes them look like crap I think, and I have heard nothing but bad things about it, from people that recondition atari's. That is why if you clean it right you don't need to use armorall. Like I said before it is a half assed way to make it look shiny. (it is still to shiny to be from the factory) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I just thought of this too, you don't put armorall on your PS2 or Gamcube or N64 or snes, or nes do you? Then why would you put it on an atari? Seems stupid if you use it on any of your consoles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmeroid Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 About a dozen or so Texwipe 781 swabs, water followed by 70% IPA, the latter keeps the microbio load down. And keep it under a polypropylene layer during extended periods of non-use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendan Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I use Armor All, too, on my console and cartridge exteriors and have yet to have any problems at all. From what I remember from chemistry class, Armor All breaks down one or two molecule thick crystalline structures that slowly form on the surfaces of vinyl, plastic, or rubber. (Being in the sun accelerates this formation.) These small crystalline structures are oriented every- which-way and dull the "lustre" of fresh, new plastic. Removing one or two molecules worth of "bad" plastic isn't going to do any harm! How many thousands of years do you want your 2600 to last? I beg to differ with opinions here, but my NES and SNES and N64 and Genesis look none the worse for wear... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Once you clean it it does look like new (if you clean it good enough) it will shine like it did from the factroy. There is no need to make it look like crap, all shiny after you clean it Sounds more like you've got something against Armor All. Did someone spray it into your eye when you were little? After I clean an Atari, there is no "original" shine. The things are over 20 years old and will become dull and scratched up over time. Atari game systems are made of black textured plastic (except the 5200) which makes them perfect candidates for Armor All. Like I said before it is a half assed way to make it look shiny. (it is still to shiny to be from the factory) It's not half-assed and I will continue to use it because it makes them look better then new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I use Armor All, too, on my console and cartridge exteriors and have yet to have any problems at all. From what I remember from chemistry class, Armor All breaks down one or two molecule thick crystalline structures that slowly form on the surfaces of vinyl, plastic, or rubber. (Being in the sun accelerates this formation.) These small crystalline structures are oriented every- which-way and dull the "lustre" of fresh, new plastic. Removing one or two molecules worth of "bad" plastic isn't going to do any harm! How many thousands of years do you want your 2600 to last? I beg to differ with opinions here, but my NES and SNES and N64 and Genesis look none the worse for wear... I am not trying to say that it isn't good for other things, but not consoles. When is the last time you were playing a console in full sun? And plus it will never look original again. It is a fake ass shine that looks like shit. Why wouldn't you want your consoles to look original, instaid of some overly shined piece of shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
povlok1 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 HOLLY SMOKEs!!! do you put armor all on your DVD!! Or any other electronics!! armor all coats the contacts and is NON-CONDUCTIVE!! it also holds dirt.. it is one of the worst things you can do for an atari. It also holds dust bunnies if it 'drifts' inside the atari (big prob for the 6'ers with speaker vents) Ive sold tons of reconditioned ataris and I put one hell of a gaurantee on my units, one of the biggest steps I do to ensure they dont come back is de-armorall em by soaking em in near boinling water and use a plastic acid to clean em. Im not going to go in super detail about this,, just take a look at how many of these I work on, if you think you know more.. armor all away http://atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t...3&highlight=mod this link shows just some of my exsperiance.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 HOLLY SMOKEs!!! do you put armor all on your DVD!! Or any other electronics!! armor all coats the contacts and is NON-CONDUCTIVE!!. No one would be so stupid as to use it on the contacts. It's for the plastic casings only. Jeez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
povlok1 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 OMG.. I see someone say they use it on ther cart too.. Find me one electronic manual for any consumer electronic device that says to armor all your unit,, many will say specifically not too.. the problem is that AA 'floats', even after applying.. Ever notice that nasty Black streaks on the end of your cart were the contact terminals are?? 90% of that is armor all!! thats why you need to clean em with cotton swaps.. AA on plastic is fine.. but dont have it anywere near the electronics!! exspeciall on somthing as sensitive as the load slot.. one good blast of AA close to the load slot and you will contaminate every stinking game you but into it.. but hey.. what do I know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 HOLLY SMOKEs!!! do you put armor all on your DVD!! Or any other electronics!! armor all coats the contacts and is NON-CONDUCTIVE!! it also holds dirt.. it is one of the worst things you can do for an atari. It also holds dust bunnies if it 'drifts' inside the atari (big prob for the 6'ers with speaker vents) Ive sold tons of reconditioned ataris and I put one hell of a gaurantee on my units, one of the biggest steps I do to ensure they dont come back is de-armorall em by soaking em in near boinling water and use a plastic acid to clean em. Im not going to go in super detail about this,, just take a look at how many of these I work on, if you think you know more.. armor all away http://atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t...3&highlight=mod this link shows just some of my exsperiance.. FINALLY some sense of reason comes to this thread. Now you have it from the master of cleaning atari's ARMOR-ALL SUCKS And if you didn't open that link above, open it and see how many more atari's he has cleaned than everyone here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Now you have it from the master of cleaning atari's ARMOR-ALL SUCKS You two should move to Hawaii and get married. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
povlok1 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I used to paint cars.. one of the biggest prob was aa contamination causing the paint to 'fisheye' (a flaw causing a lot of weired 'dots' to pop up, like painting on oil) This would happen even with great care degreasing (a step in the prep). Trust me on this one.. stay away from aa.. even months after you put it on,, it leaves a film that will rub off onto your hands.. and everywere else.. so if you want to listen to someone with 'shine in a can'.. go ahead, but you are hurting your atari! ' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
povlok1 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Now you have it from the master of cleaning atari's ARMOR-ALL SUCKS You two should move to Hawaii and get married. LOL.. well this is touchy for me... I take alot of work into making these ataris look new with about a half hour of scrubbing, soaking these things, etc. I see on ebay all the time people ripping off my rebuild ad,, and part of ther rebuild is AA wich right ther shows me these people are amatures and dont know what the hell ther doing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Now you have it from the master of cleaning atari's ARMOR-ALL SUCKS You two should move to Hawaii and get married. ha.. ha.. that was almost funny. But once you show me a picture of mountains of atari's like he has, I am goint to trust him on cleaning them. I have talked to him on the phone quite a bit too, so I have a lot of the secrets he uses to clean them. (not all of them though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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